Prince Charming
by HesMines
Summary: Deptuy Director Sheppard does the unthinkable. Not only does she spill her love life to a complete stranger, she does it on National TV. Gibbs finally finds out how she really feels! Season 2 AU. A bit OOC on Jenny's part.


This purely came from writers block, separation from my laptop and late night TV. Inspired by the phase 'Someday your Prince will come. Mine? Oh, he's lost and too stubborn to ask for directions.' which came from one of my best friends – I've no idea where she got it from though! Borrowed the second last line from Kill Ari.

**Disclaimer – I own nothing.**

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It was quiet…too quiet.

Sometimes, Gibbs felt more like a parent than a team leader when it came to Abby, Tony, Kate and McGee. And every parent knows that silence is _not_ always a good thing. Especially when it came to his 'kids'. Coming back to an empty bullpen after a coffee run had surprised him. They didn't have any cases, so there wasn't anywhere for them to be. The eerie silence had worried him slightly, and the thought of the havoc they could be wreaking in other parts of the building made him turn back into the elevator and head down to the lab.

When the doors opened, Gibbs was greeted by the sound of Kate and Tony bickering. Smirking slightly, Gibbs stepped out of the elevator and headed towards the noise. When he stepped into the lab, he saw his three agents, Abby and Ducky gathered around the plasma. Tony and Kate were glaring at each other, completely unaware of his presence.

"– has the power to fire you. You can't say that about her!" Kate growled, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Besides, what about rule number twelve?"

"I was only stating a fact, Kate." Tony was indignant, it seemed like this argument had been going on for a while. "She _is_ hot. But she's a politician and a redhead so –"

*thwak*

Both Kate and Tony felt their heads go forward. Ducky and Gibbs shared a look as Kate and Tony glared at each other for a moment before turning back to the TV. Gibbs looked at Ducky questioningly when the theme tune of a popular chat show filled the room.

"Deputy Director Sheppard is making an appearance, and since there are no cases…" Ducky trailed off at a look from Abby indicating that this was no time for talking.

Gibbs turned back to the screen, and felt the breath catch in his throat. Sitting on the red couch next to a blonde presenter was Jenny. She looked almost exactly the same as she had the last time he'd seen her – and considering it was about five years ago he was sure it was a good thing. Her hair was a little longer than he remembered, so he guessed she was due a haircut and there were slight bags under her eyes that he was positive no one else would notice. Her make-up and her people skills would make sure that no one thought she was losing any sleep over anything – most probably paperwork or some agent/politician screwing up somewhere.

Before he could go any deeper into his Jenny-induced haze, the host spoke and he concentrated on what they were talking about. Even though she was on the other side of a TV screen, he knew this was probably the closest he was ever going to get to actually seeing her. Besides, there was a part of him that was proud of how much she had achieved.

"_Well, I think we've covered pretty much everything except your love life!" The host remarked in a joking tone, clearly trying to move their conversation into more personal territory._

"_What love life?" Jenny's laugh was strained, but very few people would be able to tell that this was a subject she didn't want to discuss. Her smile almost looked real as she added, "Very few men are willing to play second fiddle to a job."_

"_Oh come on, surely there's a guy out there who would. You know…Prince Charming and all that." The presenter seemed completely oblivious to Jenny's discomfort, pressing the line of questioning that she knew would fill out their interview. Everyone who 'didn't have a love life' always had some kind of story to tell._

_Jenny was quiet for a moment, weighing her words carefully. Her tone was almost cheerful, and Ducky knew it would fool almost everyone. He could see the sadness in her eyes, and he had a pretty good idea as to what caused it. "Everyone has a Prince Charming. Even me. The trick is to know when you've found him." _

"_You sound like you're talking from experience…" The host was more wary in her questioning now, finally noticing that this was a lot more than a conversation filler to Jenny. _

_Jenny looked at the host for a moment, but not really seeing her. She was in the studio, but her mind was in the past. Another place…another time. She took a deep breath, her decision made, and spoke cautiously. "The only person who could put up with my crazy hours and dedication to my job is a man who is just as bad with his. It's both our faults…" _

_She couldn't believe that she was actually doing this. She was possibly about to make the second biggest mistake of her life. Pushing that thought away, she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and continued with newfound confidence. "When we met, I didn't believe in any of that stuff. Knights in shining armour meant damsels in distress. I didn't want to be that girl. I was a woman in a man's world – you think the male to female ratios are bad now? You should have seen them when I started – and I couldn't afford any weakness. But I fell in love anyway." A small smile played on her lips as their relationship flashed before her eyes. Hindsight was a wonderful thing. "And then…it got difficult and I jumped ship. He was that tall, handsome stranger that your mother warns you about. We were a complicated risk I just wasn't strong enough to take. I had a choice, I made the wrong decision and I've regretted it ever since."_

"_You could always fix it you know." The host whispered in wonder. This wasn't what she'd expected when she was told she'd be interviewing the Deputy Director of NCIS. It made her seem so much more realistic, someone you could relate to. She genuinely felt sorry for the woman sitting across from her, something that didn't happen a lot._

"_No…I can't. If there's one thing I learned as an agent, it's that life sucks and then you die." Jenny laughed at the end of her statement, knowing that she sounded cynical. She shook her head and continued, "Real life isn't like a movie. There are no miraculous second chances. The good guys can lose, and sometimes the bad guys get away with murder. Everybody lies and love doesn't conquer all."_

Back in the lab, the team were looking at the screen with wide eyes. Ducky on the other hand looked rather sombre. He knew what this revelation would do to both his friends, but he didn't know if it would be enough to make them react and fix things between them.

Abby was the first one to break the silence. "Whoa…someone has emotional baggage." She turned around to ask Gibbs something, but came up empty. She quickly looked around the room, but couldn't see any trace of him. "Hey…where'd Gibbs go?"

The team looked confused for a second before the presenter's voice drew them back to the screen.

"_And how do you think he'd react if he saw this?"_

_Jenny closed her eyes briefly, the reality of what she'd just done crashing down on her. She put her hands to her head and massaged her temples while muttering, "Oh, I know exactly how he'd react." Internally head-slapping herself, she opened her eyes and forced out a laugh, "I'm actually mentally doing the same thing since I just spilled my love life on national television. "_

"_You lost me there."_

"_It doesn't matter. You'd have to know him to get it. Besides...the chances of him seeing this are slim to none. A mutual friend on the other hand…" Jenny smiled, knowing that everything she'd just said was true. Very few people would know that she was talking about her old boss' methods, and even fewer would know she was talking about Jethro. She felt herself freeze as her last statement sunk in. _

_Ducky always made an effort to watch her if she was doing something on TV. Even after what had happened with Jethro, he still supported her. The chances of Jethro seeing this were slim, but Ducky… There was even that possibility that Stan or Will or someone would see this. And they would have no trouble about mentioning her strange behaviour to him. They didn't know about the relationship, but they did know her. And what she had done was totally out of character._

_She turned to face the camera, trying to ignore the confused look she was getting from the host and failing to remove the look of horror from her face. "You know who you are and if you're watching this, please don't mention this to him. I'm still perfectly capable of getting you back." _

_**JIBBS**_

Jenny sighed as she escaped the elevator and entered the television studio's parking garage. She couldn't believe she had done that. She'd just spilled her love life – and her biggest regret-slash-secret – on national TV. Then after the interview had ended, she'd been bombarded by questions from the crew, her detail and her PR guy. Even Director Morrow had called her. She didn't feel like being interrogated, she wanted to go home and drown her sorrows. It was times like these that made her wish she had a boat in her basement.

She sighed heavily, knowing that this would all blow over soon enough. Hopefully without the scuttlebutt reaching Jethro. Finally looking up, she saw something that made her stop in her tracks. Casually leaning against the side of her town car – looking just as handsome as he had the last time she'd saw him – was none other than Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"Jethro? What are you doing here?" she couldn't keep the shock out of her voice. She'd never expected him to turn up at the studio – she didn't even know he knew she was back in DC. This was what she had been dreading, so why did she feel so happy.

Gibbs pushed away from the car and answered, "I'm doing what I should have done five years ago, Jen. I'm coming after you." His voice was coming out much calmer than he felt. Even though he knew what she had said meant, he was still scared that she would push him away. Again.

Jenny closed her eyes and looked at the ground. The self-loathing was evident in her voice as she whispered, "I'm not worth it." She'd give anything for him to come after her, but she didn't deserve a second chance.

"The only reason I didn't come after you was because you said if I loved you I wouldn't. If I'd thought there was any chance you'd take me back I'd have followed you anywhere." Jenny could hear the sincerity in his voice, and it made her feel even worse.

Part of her was elated that this was really happening and his words stirred a little hope that maybe they could work things out. But another part quickly shut that part up by reminding her that it'd been five years and that she'd broken both their hearts. She opened her eyes and looked at him, and she realised that he'd moved closer. She could see the emotions burning in his eyes, and that was enough to pull her out of her mood. "Isn't that a bit backwards? I'm the one who left…you'd be taking me back."

They'd never been ones for saying exactly what they meant, so Gibbs heard the real meaning behind her words. She was giving them another try. Trying to repress his grin, Gibbs shrugged and tried to remain casual, "Semantics."

Jenny grinned and bit back a laugh, "I see you finally got that dictionary."

Gibbs chuckled, unsurprised at how easily they had fallen back into their out routine. Unable to resist it any longer, he reached out and pulled her into a hug. Wrapping her securely in his arms, he placed a chaste kiss in her hair and whispered, "I missed you, Jen."

Jenny smiled into his shoulder, finally glad to be back where she belonged. She buried her head in his neck and whispered back, "I missed you too."

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_**Well**_**… that was pretty cheesy and random. Did I mention it was a bit ooc? lol I wrote this during my free periods on Friday. I was meant to be looking up stuff for my dissertation, but I gave up about ten minutes into it! The school computers suck, you can't get on any sites that will actually help.**

**Anyways, tell me what you thought! The little button down there is just waiting to be pushed! **

**HesMines xx**


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